“It is clear security is better on the street — it is clear there are more markets open, just the traffic jams alone tell you that things are better on the streets of Baghdad.”

Instead… McCain took a stroll through the Haditha market of Baghdad.Republican US presidential candidate Senator John McCain (R-AZ) walks through the market district of Haditha City, Iraq, March 16, 2008. Picture taken March 16, 2008. REUTERS/Cpl. Erin A. Kirk/U.S. Marine Corps/Handout (IRAQ).

** The following is his translation from an article in Iraq’s Alnahrain of 3-17-08:

Iraqi Air force is averaging 300 sorties a week

General ROBERT R. ALLARDICE, who is in charge of re-developing and advancing the Iraqi air force, announced that by the end of 2007 the Iraqi air force was able to carry out 300 sorties per week. This means that substantial and significant developments have been achieved in revitalizing the Air force.

General Allardice added, in a closed security TV interview with the DOD on Monday the 17th, the Iraqi Air force academy has graduated its first pilot group and trainers. The Iraqi air force has transformed it self from a dream on paper to a real legitimate weapon with its duty to serve and protect Iraq. The general affirmed that the Iraqi air force is being trained to combat terrorism and insurgency. He pointed out that since the decline of violence, many have returned to their jobs in the air force. US Air force commanders are working hard to help their Iraqi counter parts.

Arbil, Mar 16, (VOI) – Life came to a standstill for five minutes in the city of Arbil, capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, on Sunday over the 1988 chemical attacks on Halaja, where more than 5,000 people were killed.

“This five-minute mourning is observed in recognition of the people who gave their souls for the sake of the anti-Kurds persecution perpetrated by the former regime on that day 20 years ago,” a media figure, Hamza Hamed, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

The government’s announcement that it was creating 800,000 new jobs is a sigh of relief amid nearly a five-year-succession of bad news, Iraqi economists said. They said the jobs if distributed fairly and equitable should alleviate rampant unemployment which they partly blamed for fueling the current cycle of violence in the country.

“The allocation of 800,000 jobs will certainly reduce the current high jobless rates substantially if they are distributed in an equitable and natural manner,” said Isam al-Mahawili. The government said it was keen to slash unemployment levels in the country and use soaring oil revenues to put the nation to work. Mahawili, one of Iraq’s top economists, said the government took the right decision, adding that reducing unemployment was “one of the most effective ways to revive the economy.” But he warned that ambitious plans like these had little chance of success unless the government reinstated stability and peace first.

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